NYC GDC Statement in Support of Tariq Khan
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
To the University of Illinois Office of Student Conflict Resolution ([email protected]), Assistant Dean of Students Rony Die ([email protected]), and Associate Dean of Students Justin Brown ([email protected]):
As an organization committed to defending members of the working class as they struggle for a more just world, we denounce, in the strongest possible terms, the Office of Student Conflict Resolution’s mind-boggling capitulation to the bigots waging a campaign of targeted harassment against Tariq Khan.
It is unconscionable that Khan is being disciplined by your office when his department and even the Champaign County Court have been able to see through the ruse of the right-wing outrage machine targeting him. Turning Point USA, the organization which Khan’s accuser belongs to, has a well-documented history of going after students, professors, and other faculty for their political beliefs, encouraging TPUSA members to mob their targets’ employers and schools with calls for dismissal and expulsion, while also harassing their targets personally through threatening calls, emails, and even stalking. After the amount of suffering that TPUSA has inflicted on Khan and his family, it is ludicrous for your office to top it off by threatening his education and livelihood.
Should your office be truly interested in supporting a safe and secure university environment, it should look into the well-documented history of TPUSA’s abuses and immediately suspend any disciplinary action against Khan, issue him and his family a formal apology, and commit to better protecting your community in the future.
In Solidarity with Tariq Khan,
The New York City General Defense Committee